On 26 June, creative director Isabel Dai will present her first exhibition as a visual artist: ‘I am sooo creative’, a pop-up installation at Espai Poblenou in the Prats Nogueras Blanchard gallery (Passatge Saladrigas 5-9). This first foray into contemporary art offers a critical reflection—as ironic as it is accurate—on the culture of content creation, the obsession with originality, and the empty codes that permeate the creative industries.
Starring artist Gabriela Richardson, the exhibition is structured as a visual satire that explores the tension between form and substance, authenticity and artifice. Through 10 photographs, 5 audiovisual pieces (one of them recorded in analogue) and a sculpture, Dai constructs an aesthetically sophisticated universe, with meticulous art direction and a narrative that invites us to question the collective imagination that surrounds contemporary creativity.
‘“I am sooo creative” is a mockery of myself and that collective impulse to want to be unique, interesting, creative… Pretension is no longer an option: it’s part of the game. My proposal is to laugh from within the system,’ explains Dai.
Far from resorting to drama, the exhibition uses a vibrant visual aesthetic, close to the symbolic universe of Gen Z, without losing conceptual rigour. Dai combines literary references—such as Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar—with a visual approach that draws on both advertising language and pop art. One of the most representative works, ‘To be or not to be content,’ portrays the psychological fragility of urban creative environments, revealing how emotional and aesthetic overexposure can dilute the sense of identity.
Gabriela Richardson, known for her transition to a more introspective and conceptual alternative pop style, shares the spotlight with Yuma Dembele—membership manager at Soho House, cultural collaborator, and promoter of a conscious lifestyle—and Lala Hayden, artist and composer who combines a rebellious aesthetic with a solid critical discourse. For Dai, these figures represent a type of aesthetic sensibility that does not renounce depth, even when immersed in contexts marked by image.
The entire production was directed in collaboration with bycontrast., a creative duo specialising in large-scale advertising productions. The project is part of a desire to elevate commercial languages to an artistic level, demonstrating that formats linked to marketing and fashion can also convey philosophical and political discourses.
The sound component has been developed by composer Joel Crivillé, who has created an original soundtrack that accompanies each work and reinforces its emotional dimension. Influenced by artists such as Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Kara-Lis Coverdale, Crivillé creates a soundscape that delves into the contrast between aesthetic surface and emotional intimacy.
The venue chosen to present the exhibition—the Espai Poblenou of the historic Prats Nogueras Blanchard gallery—is not insignificant. With a past linked to the rise of Spanish contemporary art in the 1980s and 1990s, this space recovers its essence to host a proposal that connects with its legacy from a contemporary, critical and deliberately ironic perspective.
With a nomination for the Young Cannes Lions 2025 under her belt, Isabel Dai thus consolidates a new stage in her career: a transition from branding to artistic practice without abandoning her precise visual language, her obsession with composition and her ability to generate beauty from the everyday.
Looking ahead to 2026, the artist is already preparing her next exhibition, reaffirming her interest in advertising languages as vehicles for personal expression. As she says: ‘Advertising tries to sell you something. These pieces, on the other hand, seek to make you love yourself more, just as you are. No filters. No external approval. No need for likes.’
Sigue toda la información de HIGHXTAR desde Facebook, Twitter o Instagram